Liss - Miles Apart

Smooth alt-funk shouldn’t work, really. We’ve all heard Jamiroquai. None of us are thinking ‘what we really need is another Jamiroquai’. But then, nobody with half a noggin is going to compare Danish buzz-riders Liss to a hirsute guy in a hat, are they?

Because, actually, what this foursome are doing feels fresh and exciting. There’s a vague undertone that nobody has drafted up new blueprints for the wheel, but it’s not about the specifics. Their music has a deep groove that defies cold analysis.

‘Miles Apart’ belongs in another world. Sun soaked pool parties, cruising down the seafront in some perma-tanned resort. It doesn’t sound like it originates from the land of Peter Schmeichel, Lego and, y’know, pastries? Where Years & Years have danced their way into the mainstream, Liss cut a slightly sleeker, darker shape. With potential still to fulfil, they’re a frighteningly good prospect. It’d be virtual insanity not to get onboard immediately. [sc name="stopper" ]

Rina Sawayama was always going to be a pop mastermind, but with her debut album out and already gaining the kind of critical acclaim that makes a career, she’s quickly becoming something far more than she ever imagined.